Nov. 20, 2024
SOCIAL MEDIA ROUNDUP
New ALNG bill addresses mental health safety through firearms storage proposal
Alabama National Guard | Facebook, Instagram, X
DEFENSE WIDE NEWS
U.S. Issues Warning to Beijing Over South China Sea
Newsweek | November 19, 2024
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has issued a warning to China over the South China Sea, emphasizing that the U.S. would defend the Philippines should Filipino forces face armed attack. Austin was visiting the Philippine province of Palawan, which lies next to the contested maritime region. Austin was asked about the continuity of U.S. military support to the Philippines under incoming President Donald Trump, including $500 million in new military funding. He expressed confidence that the U.S.-Philippine alliance would endure political transitions.
Southeast Asian Defense Chiefs Meet In Laos As Maritime Disputes With China Are Flaring
The Associated Press | November 19, 2024
Southeast Asian defense chiefs and representatives are meeting in the Laotian capital on Wednesday for security talks at a time of increasing maritime disputes with China in the Asia-Pacific and as the transition to a new U.S. president looms. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was set to join the meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations defense ministers in Vientiane, where many will be looking for assurances ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's return to power in January.
China defense minister declines US meeting, breaking military talks
Defense News | November 19, 2024
China’s defense minister will not meet with America’s secretary of defense this week, marking the first time in a year that Beijing has paused high-level military talks. A senior American defense official, speaking with reporters before a summit of Asian defense officials in Laos, said that the Pentagon had offered to meet and that China declined, citing objections over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. The official doubted that reason was sincere and referenced China’s other rationales to stop talking in recent years: sanctions, the spy balloon crisis and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in 2022.
Chinese Ship Suspected of Undersea Cable Sabotage Detained in 'NATO Lake'
Newsweek | November 20, 2024
A Chinese vessel has been implicated in what has been described as the sabotage of undersea telecom cables in the Baltic Sea, a body of water dubbed the "NATO Lake" due to its location between alliance members. International concern surrounds the cutting of the 730-mile C-Lion 1 cable connecting Finland and Germany and the 130-mile link between Sweden and Lithuania on Monday. A legal expert has told Newsweek that any investigation into the incidents "could span years" and could set precedents for future alleged incidents of underwater sabotage.
Russian nuclear doctrine change does not indicate imminent attack, Pentagon says
Defense One | November 19, 2024
The United States sees “no indications” that Russia is preparing for a nuclear attack, the Pentagon said Tuesday, despite the Kremlin’s announcement of a change in nuclear posture. And while the doctrine change is alarming, experts say, it doesn’t mean the world is on the brink of nuclear war. The Russian government on Tuesday announced a broadening of its nuclear doctrine, which allows for the use of nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear attack, and allows for strikes against Western nations that are supplying weapons to countries engaged in conflict with Russia—namely Ukraine.
For the first time, more than half of Ukrainians want a quick, negotiated end to war with Russia: poll
New York Post | November 19, 2024
For the first time in the 1,000 days of bloodshed since the Russia-Ukraine war began, more than half of Ukrainians want to see a swift, brokered resolution to the conflict — and even support making territorial concessions to reach peace. Most Ukrainians — 52% — said the country should seek to negotiate an ending to the war as soon as possible, while 38% want to see Ukraine continue fighting until it defeats Russia, according to the latest Gallup survey on the conflict. This is an appreciable shift from the early days of the war that began in February 2022, when 73% wanted to fight until Ukraine reached a victory. Support for that position slipped to 63% last year, but this is the first time support for negotiated peace eclipsed a majority among Ukrainians.
NATO holds large Arctic exercises in Russia's backyard
France 24 | November 19, 2024
Thousands of NATO soldiers are taking part in large-scale artillery exercises in Finland's Arctic this month, seen by some as a signal to neighboring Russia over its war on Ukraine. Sounds of cannon fire and rocket artillery echo across the snowy, hilly Lapland landscape as some 3,600 soldiers from the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France and other NATO members conduct live fire drills throughout November. They are part of NATO's largest artillery exercise ever held in Europe, dubbed Dynamic Front 25, which also includes drills in Estonia, Germany, Romania and Poland involving a total of around 5,000 soldiers.
US Embassy in Kyiv shuts down after receiving warning of 'significant' Russian air attack
ABC News | November 20, 2024
The U.S. and some other Western embassies in Kyiv said that they would stay closed Wednesday for security reasons, with the American delegation saying it had received a warning of a potentially significant Russian air attack on the Ukrainian capital. The precautionary step came after Russian officials promised a response to President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets on Russian soil with U.S.-made missiles — a move that angered the Kremlin.
US Removes Remaining Aircraft Carrier From Iran's Doorstep
Newsweek | November 19, 2024
The United States has removed its remaining aircraft carrier in the Middle East, a report said on Monday, concluding its surge deployment amid tensions between Israel and Iran. USS Abraham Lincoln, one of 11 aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy, has left the Middle East and entered the Seventh Fleet's area of operations, which covers the Western Pacific Ocean and the Eastern Indian Ocean, according to the U.S. Naval Institute's USNI News. The "flattop" has been operating in the Middle East since late August, when the Pentagon retasked it from its scheduled Seventh Fleet's deployment. Its sister ship, USS Theodore Roosevelt, was also in the region for a surge deployment from mid-July to mid-September.
Lebanon's beleaguered army in the spotlight as truce efforts intensify
Reuters | November 19, 2024
Intensifying efforts for a truce in Lebanon have brought into focus the role of the country's army, which would be expected to keep the south free of Hezbollah weapons but is neither willing nor able to confront the Iran-backed group, seven sources said. Hezbollah, though weakened by Israel's year-long offensive, has long been stronger militarily than the Lebanese Armed Forces, which have stayed on the sidelines of the conflict even after Israel sent ground forces into south Lebanon on Oct. 1.
NATIONAL GUARD NEWS
Texas Offers 1,402-Acre Plot for Trump's Immigrant Deportation Plan
U.S. News & World Report | November 19, 2024
Texas is offering 1,402 acres (567 hectares) of land along the border with Mexico to the incoming Trump administration to lease as part of a plan for the mass deportation of immigrants, the Texas General Land Office said on Tuesday. Donald Trump is expected to mobilize agencies across the U.S. government to help him deport record numbers of immigrants, building on efforts in his first term to tap all available resources and pressure so-called "sanctuary" jurisdictions to cooperate, Reuters reported earlier this month citing former Trump officials and allies.
Governor Katie Hobbs Reports Advancements in Arizona's Battle Against Drug Trafficking
Hoodline | November 19, 2024
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has reported headway in the state's effort to stanch the trafficking of perilous drugs, particularly fentanyl, across its borders. In an announcement detailed by the Office of the Arizona Governor, Governor Hobbs revealed that since July 2024, Task Force SAFE, collaborating with the Arizona National Guard, has aided in the confiscation of over 6 million fentanyl pills and upwards of 1,400 pounds of narcotics including meth, cocaine, fentanyl powder, and heroin. These operations are centered around Arizona's ports of entry, where the task force lends its support within multiple sectors including secondary search and scan, and rail inspection.
National Guard training for mass illegal crossings at border
Yahoo! News | November 19, 2024
Border officials are now training for an expected surge in migrant crossings before President-elect Donald Trump takes the White House. The Texas National Guard is holding exercises in conjunction with the Texas Department of Public Safety along the Southern border in Eagle Pass on Tuesday. These proactive measures began last week with groups split to cover more ground across the vast Southern border. Fear of mass deportations spreads in immigrant communities “We want to conduct these exercises to send a clear message for anyone who is thinking about crossing or entering the city of Texas that we’re gonna make it very difficult,” Lieutenant Chris Olivarez, spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety told NewsNation.
Local Guardsmen 'got the job done' in Djibouti
The Bradford Era | November 19, 2024
Company C, 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry, Lewis Run, served as part of Task Force Paxton spending nine months providing operational security and crisis response across outstations in the Horn of Africa. This month they returned home transferring authority to the 111th Infantry Regt., also with the 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard. “The Horn of Africa rotation allowed the unique opportunity for Soldiers of Task Force Paxton to work in a Joint environment,” said Lt. Col. Eric Ponzek, commander Task Force Paxton. “Carnage Company (company C’s nickname) worked closely with Air Force, Navy, and Marines while stationed in Djibouti and Somalia."
Wyoming Military Department Reports Positive Culture Shift in Combatting Sexual Harassment and Assault
The Cheyenne Post | November 19, 2024
The Wyoming Military Department released its annual report on sexual harassment and sexual assault for Fiscal Year 2024, highlighting the department’s strides in fostering a culture of dignity, respect and accountability in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on Nov. 15, 2024. Maj. Gen. Greg Porter, Adjutant General of the Wyoming National Guard, presented the report to Wyoming Governor, to the Wyoming Legislature through the Joint Transportation, Highways, and Military Affairs Committee, and to the WYMD force showcasing high levels of confidence in leadership and an ongoing commitment to addressing and preventing inappropriate behavior.
ARMY NEWS
What Are ATACMS Missiles? The U.S. Weapons That Ukraine Fired Into Russia
The New York Times | November 19, 2024
Ukraine’s military used American-made ATACMS missiles to strike into Russia for the first time on Tuesday, according to senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials. Two days earlier, the Biden administration had authorized Ukraine to use the U.S.-supplied ballistic missiles for attacks inside Russia for the first time, in a major policy shift. The ballistic missiles are known as the Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS (pronounced “attack ’ems”). Ukraine has been lobbying the United States for years to receive the authorization, which comes in the final months of the Biden administration. President-elect Donald J. Trump has said he will seek a quick end to the war in Ukraine.
Top US Admiral Sounds Alarm on Weapons Stockpile
Newsweek | November 19, 2024
A top United States Navy admiral has warned of the American weapons stockpile being depleted by continuing to send weapons to Europe and the Middle East. President Joe Biden's administration has been steadily supplying Ukraine and Israel with billions of dollars of weapons from the U.S. conflicts to aid in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Admiral Samuel Paparo, who leads the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said at an event on Tuesday that it would be "dishonest" to claim that the shipments were not utilizing weapons that could be used elsewhere.
Biden administration to announce $275 million Ukraine weapons package this week
Fox News Channel | November 19, 2024
The Biden administration is expected to announce a $275 million weapons package for Ukraine this week, a U.S. official tells Fox News. The package is from the presidential drawdown authority (PDA) money, meaning the weapons will come from U.S. stockpiles and will be delivered to Ukraine quicker than a Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) package. The weapons package will include the High Mobility Artillery Rocket (HIMAR) system, but not HIMAR ammunition, and 155 mm artillery shells, drones and Javelin surface-to-air missiles, the official said.
Two soldiers get prison time for creating child sexual abuse material
Army Times | November 19, 2024
Two soldiers have been given prison sentences after conspiring to create images of child sexual abuse and taking explicit photos of other soldiers without their consent, according to an Army release. Pfc. Corey V. Wilkinson, 34, was sentenced by a military judge on Oct. 1 to seven years and six months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of solicitation of a crime, one count of viewing child sex abuse material and two counts of sexual abuse of a child by indecent communication.
Soldier to return home for military burial after 80 years missing
WBTV-TV | November 19, 2024
After more than 80 years unaccounted for, U.S. Army Tech Sgt. Thomas “Odell” Moss is set to find his final resting place at Salisbury National Cemtary in a burial ceremony Friday. “It is something that just doesn’t happen every day that someone is identified 80 years later in in World War II,” explained Odell' nephew Gary Moss. Gary and his siblings were notified after their uncle was finally accounted for August 6. Odell had enlisted in the Army in 1941 after his wife died during childbirth. He never returned home and his family recieved a letter saying he had been killed in combat. Decades went by, his parents passed and no one thought they would ever know what happened to him.
AIR FORCE NEWS
Stealth fighters and a massive mothership drone: The high-tech weapons China unveiled at its largest airshow
CNN-US | November 19, 2024
China showed off its rapidly advancing military technology by unveiling a string of cutting-edge hardware at the country’s largest airshow last week. The biennial event in the southern city of Zhuhai has become a rare public window into the military and industrial might of the rising communist-controlled superpower, while also providing international experts with an opportunity to assess its capabilities. Many of the new Chinese weapons are seen by experts as having been developed to match the United States, as authoritarian Beijing pushes to modernize its armed forces and assert its growing military presence in Asia.
U.S. military constellation advances despite supply chain hurdles
Space News | November 19, 2024
The U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) is recalibrating its ambitious satellite deployment timeline, with the next launch of its low Earth orbit constellation now projected between March and April 2025, agency director Derek Tournear said Nov. 19. The first launch of Tranche 1 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) was originally scheduled for September 2024 and later pushed to early 2025. The new target is the March to April 2025 timeframe. The delay underscores the complex challenges of scaling up a new approach to military space infrastructure that seeks to replace traditional large monolithic satellites with a more agile, proliferated network of smaller, interconnected spacecraft.
Next launch of SDA’s satellite constellation pushed to spring
Defense One | November 19, 2024
The first set of operational satellites in the Space Development Agency’s future orbital network will be launched about six months late, as suppliers have struggled to meet the Pentagon’s timeline. Satellites in “Tranche 1” of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, a layered network of hundreds of military satellites in low-Earth orbit, were supposed to begin launching in September, but will be delayed to March or April, said Derek Tournear, director of the Space Development Agency.
‘Blueprints’ for China’s New Fighter Similar to F-35, Air Force Chief Says
Air & Space Forces Magazine | November 19, 2024
The Air Force’s top officer said China’s new stealth fighter has one distinctive feature: It appears to draw its inspiration from the U.S. 's F-35. “It’s still fairly new,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin said in a Nov. 19 interview with Air & Space Forces Magazine. “But, yes, it’s pretty clear; you could put it side-by-side and see, at least, where we believe they got their blueprints from, if you will.” China’s J-35A was recently unveiled at the Zhuhai Air Show by China’s People’s Liberation Army. As Allvin noted, the plane looks remarkably similar to an F-35, though, unlike the American warplane, it is equipped with two engines instead of one.
Air Force A-10 will no longer bare teeth overseas with Korea exit
Air Force Times | November 19, 2024
The Air Force will begin removing its A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft from Osan Air Base, South Korea, starting in January 2025, according to an Air Force release. Osan Air Base is the Warthog’s last location overseas, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine, meaning the aircraft’s removal will mark the end of its run abroad. There are currently 24 A-10 aircraft stationed at Osan Air Base, and they are all slated for withdrawal by the end of fiscal 2025.
News Compilation by Sgt. Adena Belle McCluskey